A series of haunting assassinations draws an unlikely coterie of Cainites to the gilded city of Constantinople and into a byzantine mire of conspiracy, intrigue, and betrayal.

Codex of Legacies

(modified from Constantinople by Night, p. 12)

The Cainites of Constantinople do not follow Caine’s Six Traditions. Instead, over the centuries and thanks to the Lexor Brujah under Tribonius, they have developed their own set of laws and customs: the Codex of Legacies. The basic principle of the Codex is the Rule of the Trinity. There is no prince in Constantinople; instead the Tzimisce, the Ventrue and the Toreador families rule jointly. Each family is ruled by a patriarch (although Michael is considered the Patriarch of all Constantinople) who rules his family and the scion families under it. In the city’s periodic councils, only the Trinity families have a say and can decide on a course of action. Those Cainites who are not part of the family system have no part in city affairs. All infractions of the Codex or disputes among Trinity and Scion families are resolved by a panel of judges that consist of a delegate from each Trinity family. These delegates, known as the Quaesitori or “the Three”, currently consist of Petronius the Arbiter, Symeon, and Caius. They in turn are ruled by the politics and direction of their own families, which often limits their effective power.

The following are the dictates to which all Cainites of Constantinople must abide:

The Legacy of Trinity- “Of Three” is the rule of Constantinople. Only those three can voice their concerns and set upon this Codex new laws. It is also the responsibility of the Three to ensure that the concerns of the scions are heard.

The Legacy of Progeny- Only those of the Trinity are free to sire. Even the scion families must petition the three Quaesitors for permission to sire. Failure to do so results in destruction of the progeny and banishment for the sire.

The Legacy of the Founding- Only the Three can bequeath Domain, just as the First Three founded the city. Cainites are granted domain upon the Embrace, if they are to receive any at all, and they are responsible for ensuring that the Codex of Legacies is enforced in their domains.

The Legacy of Shadows- The Three are masters of the night, and hence must rule in darkness. They must be revered as divinities, but their true nature should never be revealed. Just as the nature of Father, Son and Holy Ghost is unknown, so must that of the Trinity.

The Legacy of Ashes- The destruction of a family member is prohibited unless the Three condone it. Violation of this legacy results in a trial, after which Final Death is inflicted upon the offender. Those not of the families are not so protected from harm.

These legacies have existed since the Second Council in A.D. 477, their observance has been in decline since the mid 11th century. The illegal Cainites in the Latin Quarter ignore them inside their own territory, as the Baron’s Gangrel lack the authority to mete out justice there. Cainites arriving from abroad find the Codex archaic and unenforceable. Woe to those visitors, however, if they are caught ignoring the Codex in the Greek districts. The Baron’s Gangrel have the leave of the Three to destroy any outsider found to be transgressing the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Legacies. In the course of their duties, the Baron’s Gangrel have become quite draconian (no pun intended) in response to the arrogance of the Latins, and the best a foreigner can expect upon breaking the 4th Legacy (effectively leaving the Latin Quarter) is a roughing up and being pushed back into their own territory. At worst, failure to observe either the 1st and 4th Legacies will result in imprisonment and transportation to the Three, who will then act as they see fit to remove the Cainite in question from the city on a more… permanent basis.